The top 16 contestants will be announced the following day, and a waiting list of eight applicants will be drawn up.

The winners will still have to apply for the relevant licences from various departments before operating at the designated sites.

The two-year scheme, announced in Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah’s budget last year, will allow 16 food trucks to operate in eight tourist districts and serve as a way to boost the city’s tourism industry, which has relied too heavily in recent years on shoppers from the mainland.

The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau expects the first food truck to start operations by year’s end or early next year.